


City of Empires

by DreamingIsAlwaysPossible



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, Angst, Background Relationships, Fluff, Gang NCT, Gang Violence, Kidnapping, M/M, Mafia NCT, Minor Character Death, Tags May Change, because they are not the main focus, but I don’t know if I will bother to tag them all, but they do affect the story, mainly because we have, rating just to be safe, somehow also
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:28:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25130071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingIsAlwaysPossible/pseuds/DreamingIsAlwaysPossible
Summary: His lungs were burning. It felt like there was a vacuum in his chest, a desperate need to drag air through his throat.His eyes were blurring. Tears staining his face.He kicked his feet out, struggling more out of desperation than any hope to overpower them. Panic driving his every move.He knew strangulation. Knew it takes minutes to kill you.The edges of his vision were already darkening. He almost wished it would come sooner so he wouldn’t have to suffer through this any more. He wasn’t going to get free anyway.(PAUSED)
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. Captured

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> So I never thought I'd see the day I would be posting AUs, much less a mafia one. I guess we'll see how this goes! I have a plan for all the chapters, so there is no risk I'll abandon this. I even have a vague idea for how this could continue after... But let's not get ahead of ourselves and finish this first!
> 
> I plan to update at least once a week :) (Oh god what have I done...) 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

He had been watching the house for almost an hour now. Not a light was on and there had been no movements so far. He was certain it was empty. 

This was not the most interesting of jobs, sitting on a rooftop and watching an empty house, but it needed to be done. There had been whispers about a new gang moving in to this part of the city and the boss had ordered him and Renjun to take shifts keeping tabs on their supposed headquarters. 

This was actually an upgrade. He had spent the last three shifts in different cars parked down on the street until Renjun had suggested this spot on the roof. This was better. Avoided unnecessary questions, since he barely looked old enough to drive a car in the first place. 

A silent vibration against his thigh and wrist told him he had a new message. It was Renjun letting him know he was on his way to release him from duty. He sent back a quick thumbs up and a ‘I’m heading home’ in their group chat. 

Putting his binoculars back into his bag with the camera he did one last sweep of the place, checking to not leave any trace. He looked up at the sky, the light was on the edge of the horizon. The night was just minutes away. 

Turning around, to take the stairs on the other side of the roof, he froze as he came face to face with three people he had watched leave the building across the street this morning. 

The three men had spread out, placed themselves strategically. The tallest and most muscular one with dark brown hair was standing in the way of the stairs, leaning calmly against the railing. The other two had fanned out, coming at him from both sides. A quick glance behind himself told him that, yep, there was still a four stories high drop there. 

He knew he was screwed, but that didn’t mean he was just going to roll over. The tall one pushed himself off the railing and slowly advanced towards him. He moved without making any sound, probably how they got so close without alerting him. 

“I still think we should just shoot him.” The young man looked around his age, face set in stone as he continued to move closer along the edge. If he could reach his backpack before they were close enough to get him...

The tall man in front of him scoffed. 

“I would like to talk to him a bit before we do that. We’ll see if you can have him once we’re done.” 

Nope, he did not agree to that plan. Throwing himself down he tried to get the bag open. Hand inside and fingers gracing the cold metal his fist closed around the gun the same moment he was yanked up by his hair. Head bent backwards painfully he couldn’t aim clearly. 

He had eight bullets. 

It felt like too few in this situation. 

Before he even had a chance to get the gun upright to point at the person he knew was in front of him there was a shout.

“Johnny, gun! Look out!” 

His wrist was seized in a bruising grip. A shot burned off. Someone swore and then a blow forced him to drop it. An arm wrapped around his throat cutting off the air, the hand in his hair still not having let go. The tallest one of them was holding onto his arms, rendering him unable to fight back. 

The one who’d suggested they’d shoot him was holding his life line, the gun Lucas had given him, and his backpack. That would be the epitome of bad luck, shot by his own gun. 

Renjun would kill him.

He tried to fight his arms free, but it was as if they’d been moulded to a mountain. He tried to knock his head into the face of the person behind him, but they were too tall. He only managed to bang his head against the shoulder, pain spreading through the back of his head.

His lungs were burning. It felt like there was a vacuum in his chest, a desperate need to drag air through his throat. 

His eyes were blurring. Tears staining his face. 

He kicked his feet out, struggling more out of desperation than any hope to overpower them. Panic driving his every move.

He knew strangulation. Knew it takes minutes to kill you. 

The edges of his vision were already darkening. He almost wished it would come sooner so he wouldn’t have to suffer through this any more. He wasn’t going to get free anyway. 

He continued to struggle, having no conscious control over his limbs, just a frantic need to be released. 

They had said they wanted to talk. Did they already know who he was? Who he was working with? Or was it just because they had found him on the roof? 

His body was weakening. The lack of air was making him feel heavy, as if moving through water. 

He was drowning. 

He saw the boy holding his gun studying him closely, face impassive. It was a good mask, he’d give the boy that. Mouth opening and closing, like a fish on land, he clawed at the arm holding him tightly. It wasn’t caving. 

His arms fell to his sides as darkness swept in and the last light from the sunset disappeared. 

* * *

His head felt like it was pounding. His shoulders and throat were sore. Opening his eyes he realized he wasn’t home, suffering from a hangover like he would have guessed. 

Instead he was met with a blank white wall in a room that couldn’t be more than a few meters long and wide. In the middle of the wall there was a window, but covered up by black out curtains. Craning his neck he can see, in the corner of his eye, a door behind him. 

Groaning he let his head drop back to his chest. 

Shit. 

If his assumption was correct he was now inside the house he had spent more hours watching than he had slept, these last days. But he can’t have been out for long. Not feeling thirsty or any need to visit a bathroom. 

Right, this was fine. Renjun would be just outside. He’d just have to find a way to make him aware of it in the next hours. Before they realised he was gone and they started looking elsewhere. 

Oh gosh. 

They had, of course, not left any of his things with him, so he had no way to contact anyone. But there was a window in this room. He’d just have to take his chances and hope it faced the street. 

His arms were bound tightly behind the backrest of the chair, threaded through it. The chair, however, wasn’t stuck to the floor and his legs were still free. Bracing his feet against the floor he scooched the chair all the way to the wall. It was quite heavy, but it worked. He stopped briefly and listened to if anyone was moving inside the house. Still not hearing any sound he turned back to the curtain. 

Now was just the problem with getting it out of the way. Hands bound and mouth sealed shut he used his head to try to push the fabric out of the way. It was stiff, unmoving and it felt a bit like putting his head into a mattress. 

After a few minutes of struggling it finally gave way. What he hadn’t anticipated was that it fell straight to the floor. 

Looking out his hopes were squashed. On the outside the shutters were closed, leaving only thin gaps for him to look through. What he did see wasn’t much better. 

Just below the window he could make out the tops of trees, lined in rows. 

There hadn’t been any trees outside the building he’d been waiting at. Assuming he actually was in said building, this window was facing the other way. 

Great. He was shut off from Renjun. 

For minutes he sat there, trying to figure out a way to get free, but he had no idea. His only option was to wait for his captors. 

* * *

They took their time. The sky was brightening up by the time he heard anyone moving outside the door. 

The door was thrown open and two of the men from before came marching in. 

“So, you’re awake.” 

Trying to look bored he just raised an eyebrow in response. The tallest of the two continued past him and picked up the black out curtain. The companion disappeared behind his back, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t catch a glimpse of him. 

A warmth draped over his back. Simultaneously he felt a startling cold on his throat. He sucked in a breath through his nose and leaned back quickly, preferring the warmth over the blade. Okay so maybe they were more serious than he’d anticipated. 

“Seems like you’re a fighter. Did you really think we’d leave you in a room if you were gonna be able to escape from it that easily.” 

The first man was done with putting back the curtains and turned back to them. 

“Stop playing around, Mark.” 

He winced. 

Mark. 

Perhaps his real name. Hopefully not. If they were using real names he was in serious trouble. If they were using real names his chance of getting released decreased to almost zero. 

The cold left his skin. 

“We’re gonna have so much fun with you,” was whispered in his ear before the warmth disappeared as well. The younger man walked back to the center of the room while the tall muscular man grabbed the backrest of his chair. 

A small whimper left him, out of surprise, when the chair was tipped backwards. He was dragged through the room as if it was nothing, his toes barely scraping along the floor. 

“We were kind enough to let you wake on your own, and then you go and tear down the room we left you. People really have no manners these days.” 

Hadn’t they mentioned this man’s name when he met them on the roof? This one was tall muscular guy who’d held him still on the roof. There had been a name shouted, what was it? J-? Jo? Johnny? Yeah, that sounded right. Maybe it was this tall guy that was Johnny. 

The guy called Mark grabbed the tape covering his mouth the moment he was dumped back into his original spot. With a quick yank his lips and cheeks were burning. 

“So, do you have a name?” the guy perhaps named Johnny asked. He just stared back at them. 

“Oh, come on! You owe me from stopping him from waking you up with ice water.” The perhaps Johnny pointed to Mark. 

As if that would convince him to talk. Sure, that wasn’t a nice way to wake up, but that’s on Johnny if they put themselves at a disadvantage. Not that he really could claim the upper hand here. 

The tall guy leaned in, supporting himself on the chair’s armrests. Eye to eye he was even more intimidating, powerful build even more prominent. A grin spread across his face. 

“Please, continue like this, and give me a reason to leave you alone with Mark and not care about what happens here.”

He’d not give them anything. Mark couldn’t be that bad, right?

He opened his mouth but only a wheezing came out. If he could have, he would have grabbed his throat. His voice! A series of coughs ripped through his body. 

The one he’d decided was called Johnny laughed, it was an almost pleasant sound, except for the condescending tone. Johnny straightened up, towering over him again. 

“Come on then, what’s your name?” The smirk aimed at him was taunting. 

He glared up at his captor. 

“That’s a pity,” Johnny put the tape back over his mouth, “I’ll just have to come back in a day or two and see if you’ve decided to cooperate. Have fun with Mark.” Then Johnny was gone.

The young man’s gleaming eyes were the only thing betraying his neutral facade. 

“I still stand by my idea to get you out of the way. Because you’re not gonna talk, are you?” A finger trace the side of his face, dragging so slowly. “Well, we’ll see about that later anyway.” 

Crouched in front of him the young man examined him, he giggled slightly. 

“You know what? I’m gonna call you baby until you can tell us your real one. Sounds good? Good.” 

A grin followed the statement. 

“Don’t miss me too much, I’ll be back in just a minute, baby.”

The door slams behind him. 

Tears welled up as the reality of the situation set in. He’d not get to see the other’s again. Never get to see his older brothers’ proud smiles as he hit the center of a target. Never get their warm hugs. Never see his little brother’s happy smile when he indulged in his ideas or they played pranks on the older ones. 

He blinked them away. It wouldn’t help him to panic now.

If only his arms weren’t tied so tightly, he might have been able to rest his shoulder, just a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos have become like air to me :P 
> 
> Feel free to leave one here! Or if you want to, come and talk to me on twitter at u_127dream_wayv I' be so happy if you do, I don't bite!


	2. The Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We need to find out who he’s with and how much they actually know. We can’t have a repeat of last time, we can’t handle it yet. The plan is still to lay low at first, but we need to be even more careful from now on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have gone over and over this chapter, but I can't put my finger on what I feel about it... 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Shutting the door behind him, he left Mark to scare the captive. They had all been affected by the last months’ happenings, especially Mark, Yuta not far behind. They had tried to make it as easy as possible for their youngest, but there was only so much they could do. 

Sighing, he rubbed his face. 

If the other gangs in the area had already noticed them they were in a lot of trouble. They were not strong enough for another war, yet. 

Entering the main office he sat down opposite the two waiting for him. 

“Jaehyun has updated me on what happened,” Yuta said. Both of them were seated at the big conference table with serious faces. 

Johnny nodded, head in his hands, elbows rested on the table. 

“I take it he has woken up? And he’s not talking?” 

“Yeah, let’s just hope Mark can work some of his magic.” Clasping his hands on the table, Johnny tried to collect his thoughts. “We need to find out who he’s with and how much they actually know. We can’t have a repeat of last time, we can’t handle it yet. The plan is still to lay low at first, but we need to be even more careful from now on.” 

“I agree,” Jaehyun said, “but we can’t really expect them to just not notice a spy going missing.” 

“Of course not, but at the moment we can only hope that they either assume he’s already dead, or that they don’t know enough about us to try to come here looking for him,” Yuta told the younger gravely. 

“We have the option to make an example out of him, but our advantage is, as Yuta said, that they don’t actually know much. If we step up and make it known we are involved, we risk more than we gain,” Johnny said. 

“If that’s all for now, I have more news.” Johnny gestured for Yuta to continue. “So. We’ve received another shipment from our old contact so now we’ve got everything we need to keep up the new network. It shouldn’t be too difficult, the demand in this part of town is actually better, and the prices are easy to beat,” Yuta updated them. “We still have the two rivaling gangs to look out for, and while they seem to become a problem sooner than we planned it doesn’t really change our other plans that much.”

Mark had scouted the area before they’d moved in. The conclusion had been that the two fighting gangs shouldn’t be worse than what they were leaving behind. Their plan had been to hopefully slip in between the two, unnoticed, until they were strong enough to face them head on. While not everything was going great, there wasn’t too much of a reason to worry yet. They’d have at least a few days before things would start to heat up, if at all. 

* * *

Johnny was standing at the sink washing up the dishes from dinner, Yuta keeping him company at the table. He wasn’t very cheerful company nowadays, not that anyone blamed him. Actually, none of them we’re very positive these days, but Yuta was the one who hadn’t even smiled since they relocated. He missed his friend’s light hearted attitude.

Things we’re still better than a few days ago, when they had all been going on autopilot and didn’t get any sleep.

“How are you holding up?” Johnny asked. Yuta scoffed. 

“Same as all the other times any of you’ve asked.”

“I’m sorry, you know it’s only because we care.” He put down the last plate and turned around, leaning against the counter. Yuta sat staring at his glass. 

“I know, I’m sorry too. I just don’t want to talk about it.” 

“That’s okay, just know we are here if you need anything.” He sat down on the other side of the table. Yuta’s dark roots were starting to show under his white hair, but he hadn’t bothered to fix it with everything that was going on. He also suspected Yuta had stopped caring about it. 

“So how are you liking this place?” He didn’t want to leave his friend in this state, but the previous topic was clearly finished. 

Yuta shrugged. “I mean, it’s more spacious than the last. But it’s not like we need it at the moment.” He looked up at the ceiling, blinking his eyes rapidly. Johnny pretended not to see. “Actually I’m still not sure if it’s the best idea to sleep on the fourth floor.” 

It was Johnny’s turn to shrugg. “I think both Jaehyun and Mark sleep better the harder the area is to access.” 

“Yeah, I get that, but it still feels like we leave everything so unguarded. Everything is between us and the front door at the bottom floor.” He frowned at Johnny. 

“Of course, I see what you mean.” Johnny weighed his next words carefully. “But at the end of the day, aren't our four lives more important than anything else in this house?” 

“Obviously,” Yuta snapped, eyes burning. Johnny held up his hands. Something more breakable flickered past in his friend’s eyes before they were averted. “Yeah, okay. I guess I get your point.” 

* * *

Mark joined him in the living room on the resident floor later in the evening. The youngest sat down next to him, leaning his head against Johnny’s shoulder. 

“How’s the questioning going?” 

Mark sighed. “Well, his voice is actually truly gone, for now. I guess Jaehyun pressed too hard. But it doesn’t really matter, it’s not like he writes anything when I give him the chance anyway. I know I’m going easy on him, you know, but it’s still frustrating.” 

Johnny hummed to show he was listening. 

“It’s just, we don’t even know if he’s actually in a gang.” 

“I can go through his stuff, if you want? See if I can find any clues there, I got some time to spare.” Johnny patted Mark’s leg.

“Yeah, sure, that might help us. Thanks.” They went back to a companionable silence. 

Everything was so new that all they had was a couch and an armchair in the living room. They spent most of the time in the offices or out on the street anyway. It was still quite impressive, at least in Johnny’s opinion, how much they had managed to assemble. At least considering that they were hunted away with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a van to get away in, just over a month ago. 

They had lived out of that van until just last week when they had gotten this house. Admittedly it was falling apart at the seams, but the first thought had just been that it was temporary anyway. Now on the other hand, Johnny had started to think that over. Maybe they could fix some of it up, at least enough to be worthy of being a ‘neighbor’ house, basically a safe house, in case the real base gets compromised. 

Well, it’s not like it was up to him. They’d have to put it to a vote, between the four of them. That’s how things worked now. Not one leader but all of them deciding together, all with their own area of expertise. 

* * *

Johnny was scheduled for the first nightwatch. The paranoia was not letting all of them sleep at the same time. Mark had left a camera in the room with their hostage, for surveillance. He saw the boy sitting there biting his lip, clearly trying to keep it together. Mark may have been going easy on him, but Johnny could see traces of what had happened on the bruising skin. He wondered if anyone was even looking for him. 

He couldn’t get over the fact that he seemed so young. On the other hand, most people didn’t get that old in this business. 

He still remembered how small Mark was when they first met, all due to Mark’s naivety. The boy had been standing in the store, looking at the melons. He was just over ten years old and didn’t have enough money. One of the older members from this gang, at that time, had offered to buy some for him, for a small favour. Then he was stuck. 

Of course he was still here today out of his own free will. They had become family to each other, when the original one wasn’t present or enough. 

The boy on the screen dropped his head to his chest, still awake. He didn’t seem to want to sleep, but the temptation was there. If Johnny were to guess he’d say the boy had been awake for about 36 hours. He guessed the adrenalin these last ones had been a great help to stay awake, though he’d be even more tired by the time it wore off. 

Picking up the bag he had been carrying when they found him, he put it on the table in front of him. It contained the expected; a camera, binoculars, rope, ammunition and waterproof filt. Wound around the camera, however, he found the clue he’d been looking from. On the grey hoodie, clearly painted with spray cans, were a big V across the back. It looked like the typical homemade stuff, but was still not concrete proof. 

Getting into a phone was easy. Sure, these people had actually put in some extra security, but it wasn’t enough to hold against any serious attempt. And he was, despite what expectations his build may set, the hacker in the group. He was the one who got through the locked systems while they were out. They used to have a team back at the base helping them when they were out, but now it was only the four of them. 

The texts in the phone told a more elaborate story than the backpack had done. 

There were no real names. At least he assumed nobody was named 'Shoulder Gangster', ‘Dandan’, or ‘Dolphin’. There was even one that only said the number ‘10’. They had a good enough system, though it seemed more like it was quite random, that he couldn’t just automatically understand what they were talking about. 

Putting everything back into the drawer, he left it for a time when he hadn’t been up for a day and a half. Who used only codenames, had no contact that looked like relatives and talked about deals, if they weren’t in some way involved in the underworld? Now Mark had something to work with. 

Nothing much happened for the rest of Johnny’s shift, leaving him to his musings. When Jaehyun came to switch with him the captive’s eyes were still wide open. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry about the part with Mark and watermelon. I just read Heaven (NCT Hybrid AU) by Fox_155 here on Ao3 where Johnny was kind of overprotective and jokingly thought Mark would accidentally join the mafia because they said they had watermelons, and I couldn’t resist adding it! xD
> 
> Please let me know what you think about this or what you think might happen in the future. If you have any feedback I will love you forever ;) <3


	3. Changing and Shooting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Does everyone have what they owe?” was the only greeting he gave them. 
> 
> Four people scrambled for their backpacks and bags. Everyone but the second oldest. 
> 
> “Is there a problem?” Jeno asked, eyes hardening. 
> 
> “Yeah, I haven’t got anything for you.” The guy tried to act nonchalant, only somewhat succeeding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While WayV is mentioned here I will not be sticking to the original groups, just thought I should clarify that. (Yeah, I know it makes everything ten times harder, I'm sorry!)

All of them gathered in one of the offices that didn’t really belong to anyone. They were soon joined by the last companion, Jaemin. He tossed a gun on the desk and received scathing looks. 

“Don’t worry, it’s not loaded. I’m not an idiot.” Taeyong cleared his throat as Donghyuck opened his mouth, looking as if he disagreed.

“Moving swiftly past that, we have matters to discuss,” the leader said. Jaemin sank in to the only cushioned chair left, between Jeno and Jisung. 

With Taeyong going through the weekly rapport, and Doyoung sometimes adding details, Jaemin couldn’t help but zone out, poking at Jeno to not die of boredom. It was a futile attempt, Jeno being completely focused on their seniors, listening to every word. It was however quite funny to see him struggle to listen to Taeyong, while trying to not completely ignore Jaemin. He nodded along with whatever it was Taeyong was saying but still shuffled away in his seat from Jaemin’s hands. 

But after only a few minutes Doyoung had started to glare at him, as if to see if he could pin Jaemin to the wall from the other side of the room. Jaemin quit bothering Jeno. No matter how fun it was, it wasn’t worth getting all the lame assignments for a week over. 

Not that Jeno trusted him to stop, ending with Jaemin sitting with his hands in Jeno’s. Well, he wasn’t going to complain about it.

“I also heard that Jungwoo had a run in with someone from WayV last week. That was nicely handled, but it also reminded me to talk to you guys.” Jaemin felt himself perk up. It wasn’t often they talked about the opposing gang, for reasons none except Taeyong and Taeil seemed to know. “While they are our competition, and don’t misunderstand me, I don’t want you holding back and risk getting hurt, I would need you guys to back off a bit, okay?” 

Jaemin felt as shocked as Jeno seemed to be, his friend’s eyebrows shooting up. 

“Wait, what? Hyung, now is not-” Donghyuck was once again interrupted, but this time by Doyoung. 

“That wasn’t really a question, Haechan. And wait until your turn to speak.” Donghyuck slumped, but dutifully raised a finger to indicate he wished to speak. 

“Yes, Haechan,” Taeyong said, gesturing for Donghyuck to go ahead. 

“I just think that now really isn’t the time to back off. From what I’ve seen we have a chance to knock them out! They have been considerably less confrontational. There must be something going on with them. The answer now isn’t to do the same!”

Taeyong frowned, but didn’t look surprised. If anything he almost looked disapproving. “I’ll take what you say into consideration, but we,” he gestured to himself, Taeil and Doyoung, “have done a quite different estimation. All I ask of you is that you don’t provoke them, or are the ones to escalate a situation.”

“Why are we suddenly changing our tactics? Are we really just going to give up to them?” Jaemin couldn’t stop himself from asking. 

“We’re not giving up anything. At the moment you just have to accept what I’m telling you.” The finality in his tone wasn’t lost on any of them. Taeyong gave no further explanation and the theories started circulating in Jaemin’s head at once. 

Was the leader being blackmailed? Had they found some incriminating proof that could actually put him away? One that couldn’t be buried in the police’s system with a big enough bribe? 

Had they done something so bad that they couldn’t tell the gang about it, so they had made some sort of deal with WayV instead? 

What if he was ill, and was now reevaluating his life choices? 

Perhaps not the last one, but anything could be the source of the leader’s weird decision. 

His speculations were enough to make the time pass faster and before he knew it he found himself walking out of the room after Jeno and Donghyuck. 

Jisung disappeared downstairs with Doyoung, while Taeyong and Taeil stayed behind. Jaemin was quite certain that the two of them were discussing either a super secret plan on how to take over the country, or the grocery list for the following week. With them it could be either. 

“So why do you think Taeyong has suddenly decided we are going to be the peacekeepers of the block?” Jaemin asked Jeno who was trailing Donghyuck to the kitchen. 

“Well, considering it’s related to WayV it’s hard to say,” Jungwoo spoke up from behind them. “They have been active longer than any of us have been here. All anyone knows about them, or at least are willing to say, is that they showed up here about five years ago and they haven’t gone away since. Nobody had heard anything about them before that.” 

He fell into step with them, probably getting a snack before going back to his hideaway, and then it would take another week before Jaemin saw him again. He was the expert on anything related to computers. Taeyong, Taeil and Doyoung had, according to Jungwoo, been doomed before they found him. Doyoung often looked especially annoyed when Jungwoo said that but never disagreed, so Jaemin assumed there was some truth to it. 

“Am I the only one who got the feeling that Taeil knows more about this than he lets on? He really needs to work on being a better liar,” Donghyuck said, leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen. “I mean, during the whole talk about the other gang his ears were getting redder and it was as if the floor suddenly was burning him. Did you see how much he was fidgeting?” 

Jaemin hadn’t, but he didn’t doubt for a second that Hyuck was right.

“And if Taeil knows, then Taeyong knows for sure,” Jeno concluded. 

“Are we going where I think we are with this?” Donghyuck smirked. 

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to snoop around in their stuff.” Jeno looked around to check the older ones weren’t close by. 

“Whatever we are going to do, it has to wait, we have somewhere to be, Jeno.” Jaemin checked his watch. “And we have exactly fifteen minutes to get there, so we better hurry.” 

* * *

Arriving to the designated alley they could make out the silhouettes of about five people. Jaemin straightened his back and switched off the playful and silly part of himself, at least partly. This was business, but there was only so much he could do about his personality. And no matter how he acted, his bright blue hair undeniably made him less threatening. 

They marched on and he saw one of the younger ones startle. Not that they were that young, the two boys were Jisung’s age. One of them was a real rookie while the other had some years experience. The other three present were all older than Jeno and him by two, three and five years. It didn’t matter in this situation. Here Jeno and he were the ones in charge. 

“Does everyone have what they owe?” was the only greeting he gave them. 

There was no reason to loiter. There was a risk in standing out and about on the streets like this in the middle of the day. The police didn’t venture in here without a reason nowadays, but they were not the only threat, though WayV had calmed considerably this last week. 

Four people scrambled for their backpacks and bags. Everyone but the second oldest. 

“Is there a problem?” Jeno asked, eyes hardening. 

“Yeah, I haven’t got anything for you.” The guy tried to act nonchalant, only somewhat succeeding. 

“That’s not very smart of you, Myungwoo.” The man’s eyes shifted quickly to Jaemin. “Did you really think we haven’t been keeping tabs and know exactly who all of you are? We know that this is one of your bad habits. How much is it that you owe us now? Do you even know?” 

Jaemin took one step closer while Myungwoo took one back. “This was your last chance. You knew that and still you do this.” 

Jeno shook his head as if he was disappointed. 

“Come and take a walk with me. Let’s see if we can come to an agreement.” Jaemin put his arm around the older man, and could see the slight tremor in his hands. Good, at least he wasn’t completely unaware of what situation he had gotten himself into. 

Walking further into the shadows he kept a tight grip on the older man. Walking behind the big dumpsters he made sure he was still close enough that he could keep an eye on where he left Jeno with the others. Not that he thought they would do much. Myungwoo was the only troublemaker out of all of these. 

“So the stuff we keep providing keeps disappearing but we see none of the money, why is that?” He looked at the man. His fingers discreetly graced the cold metal in his pocket. 

Stammering was the only answer he got. 

“You know what, that’s our bad.” Myungwoo looked hesitantly relieved. “We should have known better than to let the debt get this high and still expect to get any money back. Or anything at all really.”

He felt the man tense again. He more felt than saw him move. Jaemin pushed Myungwoo away with all the force he could. Myungwoo stumbled back against the stone wall. Jaemin took the opportunity and pulled out his gun. 

The two shots echoed through the air.

He saw the knife drop from Myungwoo’s hand before the man himself slid down along the wall. 

Jaemin turned his back on the body. It’s not as if he was unaffected by shooting someone. Not yet. They didn’t shoot people for no reason, but they couldn’t accept people stealing from them. Not when they had been warned before. However what had really put the nail in the coffin was attacking any of them. 

He stood still, allowing himself a minute, before facing the people he had left only a few meters away. He could see them from here. He knew they could see him as well, but the shadows masked most of him. 

He took a deep breath, cool air with a tint of sour dumpsters flooding his lungs. Nausea hit him. He forced it down. Put one foot in front of the other. 

Jeno quickly scanned him, making sure he wasn’t hurt, when he re-entered the light. 

“Are we done here?” The question was mostly aimed at Jeno, but he could see some of the others nod along as well. He saw how pale the youngest looked, but he couldn’t focus on him now. He only hoped the boy was sensible enough to be far away from here when the police pulled up. 

Taking the lead, he and Jeno left the alley. He pushed it all away. They were done for the night. They were going home. He tried to switch back on. Get himself back into his body. 

Walking down the deserted road Jaemin noticed a door to one of the shops on the other side of the street opened. He nudged Jeno and pointed over to the pretty boy that walked out of the store. He seemed to be a bit shorter than them, but around the same age. His light hair stood out on the gloomy street. 

Jeno raised an eyebrow at him, but he couldn’t hide the amusement and interest that shone in his eyes. Jaemin widened his eyes, pleading wordlessly with his… roommate, or whatever he was supposed to call Jeno these days. They had some fun together, but it was dangerous to get to attached to anyone with what they did for a living. That’s what Taeyong always told them at least. 

It wasn’t as if Jeno was going to deny him anything at this moment. 

The guy seemed on edge as he threw up a hoodie, covering his almost white hair. Jaemin wouldn’t be surprised if he had heard the shot. He couldn’t stop the thought of what the boy would think of him if he knew Jaemin had been the one to pull the trigger. 

The stranger looked both ways on the street and spotted them. Hunching his shoulder he walked briskly away from them. 

Jaemin felt his grin fall. Oh well. He was just about to continue after Jeno when his fingers twitched for his gun out of habit. 

On the guys back were a white V painted. 

Briefly he wondered if the guy was dumb or had a death wish, walking around with a gang sign in enemy territory. 

Jaemin felt the adrenaline finally subside and he remembered what Taeyong had told them just earlier this day. 

He let go of his gun, since confrontation seemed to be the last thing on the guy’s mind, with how he was speed walking down the road. 

* * *

The warm water streamed over his face and continued passed his shoulders, caressing his body almost lovingly. He took his time. Here there was only Jeno waiting for him to finish, not five other guys, like when they stayed at the headquarters. 

He was washing away the day. At least that’s what he told himself. Washing away any feelings of guilt. Any feelings of fear, that shouldn’t really be there. Not that fear needed approval to exist. 

This was the only time he allowed himself to go over what happens. The short moment of time alone, between the world and his little world with Jeno in their minimal apartment. 

The shock in Myungwoo’s eyes. The familiar feeling of the trigger under his finger. 

He pulled himself out from under the water, out of the feelings and out of the memories. That’s all they were now. Memories. 

Pulling on a t-shirt and boxers he stumbled out into their living room with a kitchen where Jeno was waiting. Food he had cooked the other day stood on the table in front of the sofa, re-heated. The sun still shone in through the window. 

It felt paradoxal. Like it should be in the middle of the night, raining. But it wasn’t. Only for them. This was their evening, having been up most of the night. 

He threw himself onto the couch while Jeno disappeared into the bathroom. 

Jaemin picked up a plate and started shovelling down his food. He knew it must look repulsive, any trace of table manners gone. Not that he cared, there was nobody here and he was tired. He just wanted to sleep. 

Food gone, he had almost drifted off, laying on the couch, when Jeno finally returned. He squished himself down next to Jaemin’s feet. 

“Couldn’t even wait for me to start eating.” 

Jaemin shrugged. “Not my fault you’re so slow.” 

“I should have joined you instead of fixing the food for you. Not even a thank you from you!” Jeno pretended to be affronted. 

“Well I was the one to cook the food in the first place!” Jaemin protested. Jeno couldn’t stop the smile that graced his face. 

“Fair enough, thank you for the food, Nana.” 

Jaemin smiled back. Sitting up he attached himself to Jeno’s side instead. He let Jeno eat in silence, the warmth radiating from him enough for the moment. 

Their apartment wasn’t big but they did have one bedroom each and this room that had become a mixed living room and kitchen. It was close enough to the head office that they could be over in minutes, but he was still glad he had this space that was only theirs. Here he didn’t have to think about if he was taking unnecessary risks, not think about any of the plans, or if they would get everything done in time with the leaders demands. 

He was once again on the edge of sleep when Jeno moved to put his plate on the table. Jeno had barely reached the table before he was dragged down next to Jaemin. Giggling the younger clutched Jeno tightly. 

“You really should have joined me, I’m so tired now.” Jeno gazed softly down at Jaemin who had his eyes closed. 

“You can’t sleep here, Nana.”

“Why not? The sofa is so comfy and I’m too tired to move.” As if to prove his point Jaemin yawned. 

“I won’t let you. Or I won’t hear the end of it tomorrow.” Jeno took his revenge from the meeting and poked Jaemin. Swatting at Jeno’s hands Jaemin opened one eye. 

“Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?” His challenging face was wiped away when he in the next moment was lifted into the air. A yelp escaped him and he fastened his grip on Jeno even more. 

“Oh my god, put me down, Jeno!” The older just laughed as he carried Jaemin towards the door. Jaemin couldn’t help but smile at Jeno’s quiet chuckle. Jeno’s strong hold on him eased his worries of being dropped. 

But that also meant he was not prepared when he without a warning fell and bounced on this mattress. Jeno walked towards the door before he got a grip on his surroundings. He couldn’t stop the “Wait!” that escaped him in his haste to not be left alone. Jeno looked back at him. With anyone else he wouldn’t want to be so vulnerable but with Jeno he didn’t care. 

“Please,” was all he needed to say. The ‘I don’t want to sleep alone’ was understood between them many nights ago. 

“I’ll be right back.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! 
> 
> Why is Taeyong teliing them to hold back? Who do you think it was that they saw on street? :P
> 
> Are you keeping up with who is in what gang?


End file.
